25 years Gone: HOMEF Calls for Exoneration of Ken Saro

25 years Gone: HOMEF Calls for Exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 Ogoni Leaders

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called for the exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight Ogoni leaders (Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel and John Kpuine), who were killed in 1995 by the Nigerian State on false murder charges tried by a kangaroo military tribunal. These Ogoni activists who were members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people were accused and executed under the Military dictatorship of Gen. Sani Abacha. The accusation of complicity in the murder of four Ogoni chiefs was directly tied to the activists’ strong and unflinching stand against the polluting activities of the Royal Dutch Shell oil company known for their atrocious ruination of the Niger Delta. Years later, even after the witnesses recounted their statements, admitting that they were bribed to bear false witnesses against Ken Saro-Wiwa and the others, there still has not been justice for the masterminded killing of these men. The execution of these men brought sanctions on Nigeria from the international community and led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of nations. The cause for which these men fought and were killed was validated by the August 2011 report of the Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland by UNEP which revealed the depth of destruction of the soil, waters and air in Ogoniland. It has been 25 years since the gruesome execution of Ken SaroWiwa and the 8 Ogoni leaders. HOMEF, in a statement called on the Nigerian government to exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and the 8 others as a step towards bringing the gruesome history to a close. Nnimmo Bassey, the director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, stated that “exonerating Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other Ogoni leaders is the least the government can do to acknowledge the travesty of justice against the victims, the Ogoni people and humanity.” He also called for the recognition of these men by the Nigerian government, as heroes of environmental justice. Bassey added that “exonerating these men will bring a sense of recognition to the environmental struggles of the Niger Delta people and highlight the needed accountability on the part of the government and companies operating in the region while also showing the world that Nigeria is no longer a state that criminalizes dissent.” HOMEF believes that if Ken Saro-Wiwa were to be alive today, the demands captured in the Ogoni Bill of Rights of 1990 would still form the bedrock of demands for the respect of environmental rights, cultural dignity and re-source democracy. He would not be silent in the face of continued ecological degradation. And we must not be silent, because as Saro-wiwa wrote, Silence Would be Treason. By Ogechi Okanya Cookey Communications ogechi@homef.org

Gambia – Lured Into return By Yahya Jammeh, Black Africans Dazed with Rejection of Draft Constitution

By Kebba Ansu Manneh

In 2010, Yahya Jammeh made a spectacular pronunciation offering citizenship to all Black African descents in the Diaspora willing to resettle in The Gambia. Hundreds of returnees have since stayed in the Gambia though Jammeh’s pronunciation has never backed legally. With the rejection of the draft constitution last month, the dreams of these Black African returnees to be Gambians have now vanished.

When in 2010 former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh offered citizenship to all Black African descendants willing to resettle in the country, dozens arrived in The Gambia to fulfill the dream of a “Return to ancestral roots”. But

obtaining citizenship and resettlement in The Gambia quickly proved to be a station of the cross for this small community in the making. Shikina Chinedu, Head of Legal Affairs, ADRA “In 2010, we were lucky to acquire ten citizenship for Home-comers during the Roots Home-coming Festival from the previous administration. However, we realized that legally this type of pronouncement is not sustainable any longer” says Shakina Chinedu, a returnee living in The Gambia for 15 years, now resident of Brusubi. Though the number of African home-comers kept growing since 2010, obtaining citizenship and resettlement into the local Gambian communities by these Black African descents became quasi impossible. They consequently formed a pressure group called Africa Diaspora Returnees Association (ADRA), to help in obtaining legal documents for its members, with little headways made so far. Home-comer Shakina Chinedu owns a consultancy firm in The Gambia and is equally Head of Legal Affairs, ADRA. She has been in the forefront of the campaign to acquire citizenship for the disillusioned candidates to citizenship in The Gambia. “In 2018, we decided to work with the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), by presenting our suggestion paper on an exceptional clause for descendants of the enslaved to be given automatic citizenship in the country but all these efforts have been shattered by the National assembly members’ rejection of the draft constitution,” said Shikina Chinedu.

The Home-comers obtained that the draft Constitution guarantees the acquisition of citizenship to this minority group that is frequent victim of stigmatization, alienation and discrimination occasionally springing from security agents and local people in The Gambia. According to Shikina Chinedu, the Constitutional Review Commission did its part of the job to address the issue by incorporating part of the ADRA position paper. “Our biggest disappointment came from the National Assembly Members who rejected the much awaited Draft Constitution. Section 188 of the Gambian constitution is

asking for 15 years before returnees can be able to acquire citizenship in The Gambia. Obviously, waiting for So many years might be quite difficult for returnees above 50 years of age. What we are suggesting is reducing this 15 years to a shorter period of 4-5 years so that those above 50 years can be captured. This will allow them to contribute their quota to national development initiative”, said ADRA Legal Officer. Jeanette Brown, the Secretary General of ADRA Africa Diaspora Returnees Association (ADRA) now counts over 300 members. In the wake of contributing to the draft Constitution, Jeanette Brown, the Secretary General of ADRA was all the way busy scheduling meetings and engaging local and State authorities. She told The Chronicle that obtaining Gambian citizenship and resettlement for Black African Returnees is more of an illusion than the reality. “Most people we talk to will only offer sweet and pleasing words but no real action is taken to offer citizenship to returnees. We have been engaging various stakeholders including the CRC but at this moment, we have little or no hope after the rejection of the draft constitution. We have been very disappointed that the draft Constitution has been rejected by the National assembly. We will not relent in our

efforts to obtain citizenship for our members most of whom are over 50 years and cannot wait for 15 years to become

Gambians”.

Keisha Daniel, Media officer for ADRA disclosed that her organization is our to give support to Returnees who want to resettle in The Gambia, create a smooth bridge for repatriation of returnees, establish business and homes, engage in charity works and helping residents on information, relative business registrations and taxations as well as lobbying for citizenship.

Keisha Daniel, Media officer for ADRA

“We started here and we are demanding to return here, resettle and reconnect with our ancestors who were forcefully taken away from here to other parts of the world. We are not only expecting to return and fold our hands but also to giving back to our communities for the opportunities to rebuild our lives in The Gambia”.

Tanzania: Magufuli denounces UN human rights report, Tundu Lissu flees the country

The head of Tanzania’s largest opposition CHADEMA, Tundu Lissu, has fled Tanzania for fear of reprisals against opposition figures in the aftermath of the country’s questionable general election that saw John Magufuli re-elected for a second term. Pictures on social media on 10 November show Lissu at Julius Nyerere International airport in Dar es Salaam waving before boarding a flight to Germany, and then onwards to Belgium – his final destination his lawyers confirmed to the press. .

His departure comes as Tanzania denies any claims of moving to terminate the opposition that proved to be a strong force in the leadup and during the elections that were called out by the international community and observers for violations, including fraud and intimidation. Lissu and his family had spent a few days at the German Ambassador’s residence in Dar es Salaam on claims of asylum. He says he had received credible information of plans to threaten his life. But the government has denounced those claims of Lissu and other opposition: “I don’t know why opposition are claiming their lives are in danger, this is a free nation that respects the rights of all citizens,” says Hassan Abbas, a government spokesperson who also serves as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information. Lissu told International media that threats against him have increased after he challenged the re-election of President John Magufuli. A fierce critic of Magufuli, he has returned to Belgium, where he had been living for three years before his return to run as a presidential candidate in the election. The prominent lawyer survived an assassination attempt in 2017 while attending parliamentary session in Dodoma, where he was shot 16 times. The Magufuli administration has intensified arrests of opposition politicians barely a month after the president was sworn in for a second five-year term on 5 November. On Sunday 8 November, the former Arusha Urban Constituency MP Godbless Jonathan Lema was arrested at Kajiado County after attempting to flee to neighbouring Kenya. Kenya’s media reported that Lema, accompanied by his wife Neema and their three children, had crossed over at the Namanga border. They have all been released. “The police pursued and intercepted us at Ilbisil, where they took us to the local police post. I did not want them to lock up Lema in Ilbissil, owing to its proximity

to the Tanzanian border,” his lawyer George Luchiri Wajackoyah told Kenyan media. Other prominent opposition facing arrests include: • Freeman Mbowe who is Chadema chairperson, • Isaya Mwita, former Dar es Salaam mayor • Boniface Jacob, former mayor of Ubungo municipality The opposition have been demanding that the election be repeated, citing irregularities and calls for massive protests; an unlikely move given Magufuli has been sworn-in and is quickly steering the country out of discussions of voting day. “Elections have passed, elections have passed, elections have passed, it’s a right time to unite and bring development to our country,” Magufuli said last month at his inauguration address in Dodoma. While members of the opposition continue to face difficult conditions, Magufuli’s government has rejected a report released by UN the human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet who condemned the escalation of human rights in Tanzania. In her report, Bachelet, says she is disturbed by reports of continued intimidation, harassment and arrests of opposition following the election. “I urge the Tanzanian authorities to respect and facilitate exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly,” she adds. Bachelet goes on: “The tense situation in the country will not be diffused by silencing those who challenge the outcome of the elections but rather through a participatory dialogue.” The report highlights that in the aftermath of the general election on 28 October, at least 150 opposition leaders and members have been arrested in mainland Tanzania and in semi-autonomous Zanzibar. While most have subsequently been released, at least 18 reportedly remain in custody, she notes. But Sifuni Mchome, Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs has rejected UN claims. “It’s possible that they are speaking about Tanzania but it is also possible that these are just rumours,” Mchome told reporters on Wednesday 11 November in Dar es Salaam. Since the general election, events unfolding are a rude wakeup call for Tanzanians who see their country slipping further away from a democratic state as it falls under the sole control of the ruling party the CCM. By Abdul Halim, in Dar es Salaam

Nigerians returned from Europe face stigma and growing hardship

Nigerians returned from Europe face stigma and growing hardship ‘There’s no job here, and even my family is ashamed to see me, coming back empty-handed with two kids.’ The EU is doubling down on reducing migration from Africa, funding both voluntary return programmes for those stranded along migration routes before they reach Europe while also doing its best to increase the number of rejected asylum seekers it is deporting. The two approaches serve the same purpose for Brussels, but the amount of support provided by the EU and international aid groups for people to get back on their feet is radically different depending on whether they are voluntary returnees or deportees. For now, the coronavirus pandemic has slowed voluntary return programmes and significantly reduced the number of people being deported from EU countries, such as Germany. Once travel restrictions are lifted, however, the EU will likely resume its focus on both policies. The EU has made Nigeria one of five priority countries in Africa in its efforts to reduce the flow of migrants and asylum seekers. This has involved pouring hundreds of millions of euros into projects in Nigeria to address the “root causes” of migration and funding a “voluntary return” programme run by the UN’s migration agency, IOM. Since its launch in 2017, more than 80,000 people, including 16,800 Nigerians, have been repatriated to 23 African countries after getting stuck or having a change of heart while travelling along often-dangerous migration routes connecting subSaharan Africa to North Africa. Many of the Nigerians who have opted for IOM-facilitated repatriation were stuck in detention centres or exploitative labour situations in Libya. Over the same time period, around 8,400 Nigerians have been deported from Europe, according to official figures. Back in their home country, little distinction is made between voluntary returnees and deportees. Both are often socially stigmatized and rejected by their communities. Having a family member reach Europe and be able to send remittances back home is often a vital lifeline for people living in impoverished communities. Returning – regardless of how it happens – is seen as failure. In addition to stigmatization, returnees face daily economic struggles, a situation that has only become worse with the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on Nigeria’s already struggling economy. Despite facing common challenges, deportees are largely left to their own devices, while voluntary returnees have access to an EU-funded support system that includes a small three-month salary, training opportunities, controversial “empowerment” and personal development sessions, and funds to help them start businesses – even if these programmes often don’t necessarily end up being effective. Many of the voluntary returnee and deportation flights land in Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city and main hub for international travel. On a hot and humid day in February, before countries imposed curfews and sealed their borders due to coronavirus, two of these flights arrived within several hours of each other at the city’s hulking airport. First, a group of about 45 people in winter clothes walked through the back gate of the cargo airport looking out of place and disoriented. Deportees told TNH they had been taken into immigration custody by German police the day before and forced onto a flight in Frankfurt. Officials from the Nigerian Immigration Service, the country’s border police, said they are usually told to prepare to receive deportees after the planes have already left from Europe. Out in the parking lot, a woman fainted under the hot sun. When she recovered, she said she was pregnant and didn’t know where she would sleep that night. A man began shouting angrily about how he had been treated in Europe, where he had lived for 16 years. Police officers soon arrived to disperse the deportees. Without money or phones, many didn’t know where to go or what to do. Several hours later, a plane carrying 116 voluntary returnees

from Libya touched down at the airport’s commercial terminal. In a huge hangar, dozens of officials guided the returnees through an efficient, well-organised process. The voluntary returnees queued patiently to be screened by police, state health officials, and IOM personnel who diligently filled out forms. Officials from Nigeria’s anti-people trafficking agency also screened the female returnees to determine if they had fallen victim to an illegal network that has entrapped tens of thousands of Nigerian women in situations of forced sex work in Europe and in transit countries such as Libya and Niger. “It’s a well-oiled mechanism. Each agency knows its role,” Alexander Oturu, a programme manager at Nigeria’s National Commission for Refugees, Migrants & Internally Displaced Persons, which oversees the reception of returnees, told The New Humanitarian. Voluntary returnees are put up in a hotel for one night and then helped to travel back to their home regions or temporarily hosted in government shelters, and later they have access to IOM’s reintegration programming. Initially, there wasn’t enough funding for the programmes. But now almost 10,000 of the around 16,600 returnees have been able to access this support, out of which about 4,500 have set up small businesses – mostly shops and repair services – according to IOM programme coordinator Abraham Tamrat Desta. The main goal is to “address the push factors, so that upon returning, these people don’t face the same situation they fled from”, Desta said. “This is crucial, as our data show that 97 percent of returnees left for economic reasons.” Six hours drive south of Lagos is Benin City, the capital of Edo State. An overwhelming number of the people who set out for Europe come from this region. It is also where the majority of European migration-related funding ends up materializing, in the form of job creation programmes, awareness raising campaigns about the risks of irregular migration, and efforts to dismantle powerful trafficking networks. Progress is one of the beneficiaries. When TNH met her she was full of smiles, but at 26 years old, she has already been through a lot. After being trafficked at 17 and forced into sex work in Libya, she had a child whose father later died in a shipwreck trying to reach Europe. Progress returned to Nigeria, but couldn’t escape the debt her traffickers expected her to pay. Seeing little choice, she left her child with her sister and returned to Libya. Multiple attempts to escape spiraling violence in the country ended in failure. Once, she was pulled out of the water by Libyan fishermen after nearly drowning. Almost 200 other people died in that wreck. On two other occasions, the boat she was in was intercepted and she was dragged back to shore by the EU-supported Libyan Coast Guard. After the second attempt, she registered for the IOM voluntary return programme. “I was hoping to get back home immediately, but Libyans put me in prison and obliged me to pay to be released and take the flight,” she said. Back in Benin City, she took part in a business training programme run by IOM. She couldn’t provide the paperwork needed to launch her business and finally found support from Pathfinders Justice Initiative – one of the many local NGOs that has benefited from EU funding in recent years. She eventually opened a hairdressing boutique, but coronavirus containment measures forced her to close up just as she was starting to build a regular clientele. Unable to provide for her son, now seven years old, she has been forced to send him back to live with her sister. Ruth Evon Idahosa, founder of Pathfinders Justice Initiative – an NGO that seeks to eradicate sex trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls in Nigeria – in Benin City in 2020. Progress isn’t the only returnee struggling due to the impact of the pandemic. Mobility restrictions and the shuttering of non-essential activities – due to remain until early August at least – have “exacerbated returnees’ existing psychosocial vulnerabilities”, an IOM spokesperson said. The Edo State Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking, set up by the local government to coordinate prosecutions and welfare initiatives, is trying to ease the difficulties people are facing by distributing food items. As of early June, the task force said it had reached 1,000 of the more than 5,000 people who have returned to the state since 2017. Jennifer, 39, lives in an unfinished two-storey building also in Benin City. When TNH visited, her three-year-old son, Prince, stood paralysed and crying, and her six-year-old son, Emmanuel, ran and hid on the appartment’s small balcony. “It’s the German police,” Jennifer said. “The kids are afraid of white men now.”

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Jennifer, who preferred that only her first name is published, left Edo State in 1999. Like many others, she was lied to by traffickers, who tell young Nigerian women they will send them to Europe to get an education or find employment but who end up forcing them into sex work and debt bondage. It took a decade of being moved around Europe by trafficking rings before Jennifer was able to pay off her debt. She got a residency permit and settled down in Italy for a period of time. In 2016, jobless and looking to get away from an unstable relationship, she moved to Germany and applied for asylum. Her application was not accepted, but deportation proceedings against her were put on hold. That is until June 2019, when 15 policemen showed up at her apartment. “They told me I had five minutes to check on my things and took away my phone,” Jennifer said. The next day she was on a flight to Nigeria with Prince and Emmanuel. When they landed, “the Nigerian Immigration Service threw us out of the gate of the airport in Lagos, 20 years after my departure”. She said. Nine months after being deported, Jennifer is surviving on small donations coming from volunteers in Germany. It’s the only aid she has received. “There’s no job here, and even my family is ashamed to see me, coming back empty-handed with two kids,” she said. Jennifer, like other deportees TNH spoke to, was aware of the support system in place for people who return through IOM, but felt completely excluded from it. The deportation and lack of support has taken a heavy psychological toll, and Jennifer said she has contemplated suicide. “I was sent here to die,” she said. Without a solid economic foundation, there’s always a risk that Suddenly food stuffs and other household essentials now called palliatives started appearing in different warehouses, even church buildings, mosques, abandoned properties, uncompleted buildings, residential homes of politicians and private individuals. A country of class drams! How did these items, goods get to those places? Who hid them away from the public or masses of Nigeria while many begged for food and went hungry? During the lockdown, Nigerians have been calling for help and no one to hear them. Why do I call it drama? A politician and member of Lagos State House of Assembly claimed the palliatives found in his personal warehouse and property were meant to be distributed to members of his constituency on the celebration of his birthday. What a joke? Donations given to alleviate the suffering of the people during this lockdown pandemic of Covid-19! Clearly written on the packs, not for sale! He planned to share it out during his birthday as a gift to the people. This to me is the highest level of irresponsibility, selfishness, greed, egoism, and insensitiveness to the need of the people. He is worthy to hold an elective public office talk less of a legislator. Even having the effrontery to say that to the media is an insult to the good people of Lagos State. Under any civilized society such a person by now should have resigned people will once again fall victim to traffickers or see no other choice but to leave on their own again in search of opportunity. “When support is absent or slow to materialize – and this has happened also for Libyan returnees – women have been pushed again in the hands of traffickers,” said Ruth Evon Odahosa, from the Pathfinders Justice Initiative. IOM said its mandate does not include deportees, and various Nigerian government agencies expressed frustration to TNH about the lack of European interest in the topic. “These deportations are implemented inhumanely,” said Margaret Ngozi Ukegbu, a zonal director for the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons. The German development agency, GIZ, which runs several migration-related programmes in Nigeria, said their programming does not distinguish between returnees and deportees, but the agency would not disclose figures on how many deportees had benefited from its services. Despite the amount of money being spent by the EU, voluntary returnees often struggle to get back on their feet. They have psychological needs stemming from their journeys that go unmet, and the businesses started with IOM seed money frequently aren’t sustainable in the long term. “It’s crucial that, upon returning home, migrants can get access to skills acquisition programmes, regardless of the way they returned, so that they can make a new start and avoid falling back in the vicious circle of trafficking,” Maria Grazie Giammarinaro, the former UN’s special rapporteur on trafficking in persons, told TNH.

Palliatives drama in Nigeria!

Name changed at request of interviewee. out of shame and buried his face in the sand but not in Nigeria. The other palliatives discovery scenes should be treated as crime scenes because these items are meant to be given out to the people and they are kept away in private properties across the country. Those who discovered the loot are called looters; I dare to ask what do we call those who kept the goods away from the people who are supposed to benefit from it? Your reactions would be welcomed please. Thank you. TV Management.

Spanish police have arrested a Dutch national working for the Cali cartel, one of Colombia’s most notorious drug syndicates, following the raid on a villa in the coastal town of Marbella. The man, a Dutch national of Colombian descent, is said to represent the cartel in Europe, particularly in the UK and the Netherlands, Spanish media report. The man, accused of large-scale money laundering, had been on the Interpol wanted list for years, La Razon said, and had fled the Netherlands to hide in a luxury villa in Marbella. The raid on the house, following a twoyear investigation into an international gang operating in the province of Málaga, netted €85,000 in cash, expensive watches, computers and mobile phones and over 15 credit cards – some of them giving access to crypto currency accounts. It is thought the man may have laundered over €6m using the digital currency. Some $170,000 dollars were also found at his home in Delft by Dutch police, who assisted in the operation.

Defence minister reprimanded, loses three months’ salary for giving ANC delegation a free flight to Zimbabwe

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reprimanded the Minister of Defence, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, for transporting ANC leaders on an SA Air Force (SAAF) jet to Zimbabwe. She will also suffer a three-month salary penalty, which will be paid into the Solidarity Fund established to address needs arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Presidency said in a statement that the sanction imposed on the minister “demonstrated the seriousness with which the president viewed the minister’s error of judgment given her high position in government”. Mapisa-Nqakula was castigated for having transported a high-level ANC delegation on 8 September to Harare to engage with the ruling Zanu-PF to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe. The ANC has agreed to repay the cost of the transport less the costs that the minister would in any event have incurred on her approved trip to Zimbabwe. However, DA defence spokesperson Kobus Marais said the “slap on the wrist” was not enough and the minister should be fired. He pointed out that this was not Mapisa-Nqakula’s first offence as she had previously been accused of having smuggled Michele Wege, the girlfriend of her late son, Chumani Nqakula, on board an air force jet.

Man jailed for three months for threatening princess Amalia on Instagram

A court in Zwolle has sentenced a 32-year-old man, who was obsessed by the royal family, to three months in jail and psychiatric prison for threatening princess Amalia. Wouter G was arrested at the end of January 2020 and has been remanded in custody since then. G sent the princess, who is first in line to the throne, messages via Instagram which were of a ‘violent, sexual and frightening’ nature, the court was told during the hearing last month. A friend of Amalia’s, named Brent, was also threatened. G has a history of psychiatric problems and may have schizophrenia, experts said during the hearing. The court decided to sentence G to a maximum of four years of psychiatric prison in an effort to get him to complete a course of treatment.

There’s now a Direct High-Speed Train from

Amsterdam to London

Eurostar has launched a new 4-hour rail service between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Since October 26 2020, travelers can hop on a high-speed train for a four-hour journey from Amsterdam to London. Eurostar has launched a new direct connection between the capital cities of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom that starts from £40 (US$50) each way. The train also stops in the Dutch city of Rotterdam (which is a three-and-a-half-hour journey to London) and Brussels (two hours to London) along the way. Prior to the introduction of this new Amsterdam-London route, rail passengers had to take a high-speed Thalys train from Amsterdam to Brussels and then transfer to a Eurostar train from Brussels to London. There is no longer any need to transfer. A direct Eurostar train from London to Amsterdam has been available since 2018- this is the first time the direct Eurostar service is available in the direction of Amsterdam to London. Tickets can be booked up to six months in advance. In light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Eurostar is allowing passengers to exchange tickets with no fee up to 14 days prior to departure for all bookings made through December 31, 2020. Dating back to 1994, Eurostar is the only high-speed rail option that links the U.K. to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands via the Channel Tunnel that travels beneath the English Channel. Eurostar trains depart and arrive at St. Pancras International station in London and at Amsterdam Centraal station in

Amsterdam.

During the pandemic, masks are required on board

Eurostar trains and at the train stations (except for when eating and drinking), seating has been adjusted to allow for social distancing on board, and enhanced cleaning measures are being carried out on the trains and at stations (trains are being deep cleaned between each journey).

Eurostar also reminds travelers to remain up to date on travel restrictions and advisories throughout Europe during the pandemic. The United Kingdom currently requires those arriving from countries that are not exempt to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. As of October 25, the Netherlands was not on the list meaning arrivals from

Amsterdam must quarantine.